CJ 7 Jeep Blog

Friday, January 28, 2011

I haven't done a lot with the Jeep this winter. Just the occasional drive to keep the fluids circulating. But, for my birthday my wife got me the coolest new shifter knob from Rocknob.com They call it the "Bombknob" It's an authentic pineapple grenade from WW II that has been deactivated or made inert. Because of my profession this is a perfect accent for the interior of my CJ. It's unique and adds a touch of my own personality to the Jeep. Gotta love this one line from the installation instructions: "Currently, we ship BomNobs fully assembled; however, if you prefer the spoon (handle) to be removed, pull the pin and run like hell - Just kidding!" No kidding!

It was pretty easy to install. Here's some pics of the process.

The old B&M Shifter (which is pretty cool too)

Just loosen the nut towards the floor and unscrew the old shifter knob

BombNob installed! Still have to take it for a test drive, but feels alright so far.

Monday, September 27, 2010

I have not been doing too much lately with the CJ besides just driving it to work and back and loving the heck out of it. Due to my shift work, I frequently have my days off during the weekdays and so I've been delighting my kids by picking them up from school in the CJ with the doors off. They fight over who gets to sit in the front passenger seat. My oldest daughter, nine years old, loves sitting up there with the doors off and waving to her friends as we pull away. . . she feels pretty cool. . . as she should.

Today, instead of going home, I decided to head up into the hills near our house and take a little jaunt on some of the dirt roads that wind through the sage brush up there. Kids loved it - as did I - and the little CJ performed great! I'm not an extreme off-road guy. Snapping axles on the weekends is not my idea of a swell time, but there's just something about being out there with the doors off on a warm Fall day, the tunes blaring, as you crawl your way through no-man's-land.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Just to report that I popped the doors off today, loaded three of my kids into the CJ and we went on a short little excursion onto a rutted, dirt road that cuts through the sage brush near our home. This was my first off-road experience in this CJ since I brought it home. It was dusk, so I flicked on the KC lights and was pleased to see a brilliant, bright beam shooting out of both lamps, lighting up the brush and trail ahead. We saw a family of sage grouse trotting along the road, and a giant vulture that happened to be picking the bones of a discarded elk carcass.

As far as the CJ goes it performed great! Not that I took it to the limit or anything. It was a pretty slow, gentle meandering road ( I probably could have done it in a Datsun ) There were a couple of little climbs that the Jeep crawled right up with no effort, and when it was time to turn for home, I left the road completely and just bush whacked a little ways.

All in all it was short, but fun. It got me excited to get out there and do it some more and for longer expeditions next time. Kids LOVED it! Next on my agenda is to figure out some kind of home made hoist I can rig up in the garage to get the hardtop off the Jeep by myself so I don't have to ask my poor wife to help. Haven't driven it with the top off yet, and I just gotta do it once before it gets too cold. From the feel of temps at night and early mornings, that's not too far off.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Not much of a post today, just to log that I found a smaller than a pin hole leak in the top of the CJ's radiator today. It doesn't even squirt out or anything. Just kinda bubbles out of the hole. The hole itself is not visible until you see the little bubbles oozing from it after a drive.

So, a while ago I mixed up a little bit JB Weld and applied a small amount to the area where the hole is. Hopefully it works out and I can forget about the radiator for a while. In my past experience JB Weld has not done the job as far as repairing holes in radiators. But, I remain hopeful this time since the hole is so small. I'll update. Over and out.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

When I get my Jeep ready to paint, I've been in a quandary about what color I would go with. Well, today while browsing www.jeepforum.com I came across this 86 CJ 7 painted Autumn Red Metallic. I think this is the coolest shade of red I've ever seen. I would call it Blood Red. I also think I like the flat fender look on this one as well, so I might end up going that route with the fenders as well.

Friday, July 30, 2010

My first post on this blog is not only going to be an explanation of my motivation for starting it, but also my story as far as Jeeps go. . .and hopefully by the end of my story my motivation will be self evident.

It all starts back in about 1995 when I was twenty two years old. I had been working for peanuts at a detail shop, buffing cars, shampooing, cleaning vinyl, etc for a year and scrimping together enough savings to put a down payment on my first vehicle. Yeah, I know twenty two is a bit old for my first car, but that's another story for another blog. Working for a year in a detail shop provided me the opportunity to be around and drive just about every standard make and model there was. Living in Idaho, I detailed and drove my share of Chevy, Ford, and Dodge trucks, as well as Corvettes, SUVs, and everything else. But never a Jeep. Well, maybe a Cherokee here or there, but you know what I mean.

I had initially decided on getting a Chevy short box pickup. I had all kinds of plans for that Chevy until one day a yellow Jeep Wrangler came into the shop. I had never driven or even been inside a Jeep before. The dealership that sent us the Wrangler was only about a half mile away and it was on this very short drive while returning the Wrangler I realized my destiny was to own a Jeep! Speaking to a salesman at the dealership I soon realized that this particular wrangler was way out of my price range and so from that point forward I kept my eyes peeled, patiently waiting for the right Jeep to come along.

Some time later I found it. A kid around my age - I think he was the manager's son from the dealership - was selling his 1984 CJ-7. It was gorgeous! It had a new, custom candy apple red paint job with custom hand painted pinstripes. It was all decked out in chrome. Chrome hood and door hinges, hood latches, mirrors, big chrome brush guard, nerf bars, rockers. . . you name it, if it was a bolt on metal part it was shiny chrome. To me it looked like something out of a car show it was so nice looking. It had the 4.2L straight six engine and standard transmission. I think I paid about $7500 for the Jeep and drove away feeling like the King of The World in that thing. In fact, I remember being almost embarrassed to be driving something that looked so good. On the way home, I blushed at intersections when I saw that people were checking out the Jeep.

The CJ served me well for three years. I loved the Jeep and though I took it off road on some small excursions, I managed to maintain the pristine condition the body was in. The problem is I had all these plans I wanted for the Jeep, but being young and with a very limited budget I couldn't afford to do any of them. I wanted a lift and bigger tires, headers on the engine, a winch. . . you know just take it to the next level. . .make it a REAL worthy off-road machine. Like the old saying goes, " You don't buy a Jeep, you build it."

Sadly one day on a stupid impulse, I saw a really cool 1979 Chevy 3/4 ton pickup with a lift and big mudders. Foolishly I sold my little CJ to buy the truck. I regretted this move almost right away. I knew I was making a mistake deep down inside. I should have known when I went out and parked it on the side of the road with a For Sale sign in it, and my phone was ringing when I got home. The Jeep sold the same day I put it up for sale. As a kid from Utah drove off with it and it disappeared around the corner, I muttered to my wife, "What have I done?"

Life moved on. We had kids, and bought a house as I moved from job to job and continued to drive the old Chevy, which was a great, solid truck by the way. Every Spring as the weather warmed up however, I would find myself wishing for my old Jeep back and jealously watching other Jeeps that passed me, top and doors off, the driver's hair catching the warm summer wind. So, at one point, I impulsively sold the old Chevy to buy a 1976 CJ-7 with a 304 V8 with the plan to "fix it up" and do a full body restore. It didn't take long to realize that this Jeep needed just about EVERYTHING done to it except for maybe an engine rebuild. I also knew I didn't have the money to do what needed to be done. The biggest problem also, was I had sold my truck to get the Jeep, so what was I going to drive while the Jeep was all torn apart? So, I sold the Jeep and yet again bought a truck, a 1994 Chevy 3/4 ton, which I'm still driving today. All this time of buying and selling Jeeps and trucks I was lamenting ever letting my first CJ go in the first place. I had commented to friends and family that if I ever saw it again ( highly unlikely as it was now in Utah or who knew where ) I would run up to the owner and make an offer.

Fast forward to the present: It's been three years since I sold the 76 and twelve years since I sold my first CJ. I was recently suffering from yet another bout of CJ-itis. I was just casually scanning online for Jeeps for sale, but not seriously, just seeing what was out there out of curiosity, and just to look at Jeeps and dream about the day I'd have yet another CJ. I knew my first one was gone and I never expected to see it again, but maybe I could find another one and restore it to the kind of pristine condition my CJ was in.

Then a miracle happened.

Last week while browsing a Utah online classified website, I saw a 1984 CJ-7 for sale. Of course I clicked the link to see the Jeep. I saw it was red and had the chrome grill like mine did in the thumbnail picture. So, I clicked the pictures to get a closer look. As the picture enlarged on the computer screen something grabbed my attention. . . a custom hand painted "Laredo" on the side of the hood! "Wait just a minute!" I exclaimed to my coworker who was sitting next to me. I clicked on another thumbnail and another, and in utter disbelief started to realize that I was looking at my old long-lost Jeep!! It was worse for wear and had been through a lot of changes, but this was indeed beyond any doubt my old CJ! I couldn't believe it. I showed my wife who was just as surprised.

I quickly began a campaign with my wife to get her blessing to get my Jeep back. I reminded her that if it wasn't for me having that Jeep we might not have ever met. Yeah, I was pretty desperate. She relented pretty easily. She put up a good front, but I think she wanted to see the old Jeep back with us just as much as I did. On July 27th, 2010 on a Tuesday a friend drove me the 400 miles down to Utah with $4k cash in my pocket. I paid the asking price without any bargaining and drove it back the same day. It's now in my garage awaiting it's restoration. I still have to pinch myself a couple times a day to be sure I'm not dreaming. I just can't believe the odds that this would happen.

The Jeep as it stands: Since the day I sold it there's been some upgrades to the Jeep making it truly an off-road machine. Here's a list:

1- The 4.2L inline six engine has been rebuilt and balanced. About 2k miles on it since the rebuild.
2- Limited slip diffs have been added along with a solid rear axle
3- A two stick transfer case that allows me to engage the front wheels only ( pretty cool )
4- KC off-road lights ( currently not working for some reason )
5- 4" suspension lift with 31" Big O tires. ( it can take 33s )
6- 8k lbs. Warn winch mounted to the front
7- Custom Rhino coated front and rear bumpers
8- New carburetor
9- Electric fuel pump
10- Manual choke
11- Custom roll bar that connects to the windshield frame (like the new Jeeps)
12- LED rear and front lights
13- Exhaust headers with dual exhaust

Mechanically this Jeep is in much better shape than when I sold it. You can call it a REAL Jeep now. Everything that I ever wanted to do to it has now been done.

The bad: Well, unfortunately the Jeep's body has been neglected and allowed to rust quite a bit over the last 12 years. If I'm going to get it back in the shape I want, we're talking a new body tub, doors, and windshield frame. I think the hood, fenders, and tailgate are ok to save.

The rest of this blog is going to be like a play by play journal of my restoration efforts and all around anything concerning my Jeep and my interests in the Jeep world. Please stay tuned for updates. I appreciate any comments or advice from you old pros out there. I sure am in a learning phase that's for sure! I have to pay off the loan on it first before I start into the major stuff like a new tub, but I'll try to post as often as I can and keep it interesting.

Picture of the 84 CJ back around 1996

Driving the 84 CJ across a Creek in The Tetons - 1997

Me and my CJ's final moments before I sold it. The smile is only on the outside!

The old 76 CJ 7 I bought later and then sold.

Cool in it's own right.

This is one of the photos from the internet ad I saw and recognized my 84 twelve years later. If you compare the pictures you can see the custom, hand-painted "Laredo" on the side of the hood. This is how I was even able to recognize it as my old Jeep.

Quick cell phone snap shot of me and my old CJ finally reunited! This is in Salt Lake City after having driven half of the 400 miles to get home.